Appetite Increase during Pre Menstruation

[sleeping beauty]

Greetings to all.

My question concerns my monthly battle of having a sudden and drastic appetite increase approximately three to four days before my period. I am a type 2, and tonight my blood sugar is at 349. I ate loads of carbs, like wholewheat bread, pasta soup..and marmalade.

The days prior to my period, I have extreme junk food cravings.

My recent HbA1c reading is 7.1 and by december my goal is to get it to 6.4 or 6.2.


Almost every month this happens and it gets me very upset because during my normal diet, I never have these urges.

My brothers who are dentists say its just hormones.


Please advise.

Thanks.

[JDRF-Team-gg]

Hi sleeping beauty!  I hear you about the cravings!  I am the Mom of an 18 year old type 1 who was diagnosed at the age of 21 months.  I'm not well versed in type 2 meds (we usually deal with type 1 here), so I don't have any real suggestions as to what you can do when you're pre-menstral to bring those high bg's down...sorry!  Your A1c looks pretty good to me - congratulations on that!  For sure it's hormones that are driving your appetite toward carbs & high sugar food items.  It happens to all of us (whether diabetic or not).  My suggestion would be to look into foods that you can substitute for these high carb food choices and to consider behavior modification along with it.  Neither of which sound to terrific when you're facing a craving, I know, but it's your craving and it's up to you to decide what to do with it.  It's all about choice.  Try not having the tempting foods in the cupboard.  It makes it easier to resist if you don't have it in the house, don't you think?  Try finding an activity that will keep you busy and keep your mind off that food that you're craving.  Do you have a dog?  If you do, take him or her for a walk or if you don't, take yourself for a walk!  Sometimes just getting out of the house and focusing on something else until the immediate urge goes away helps.  If nothing else, you usually come back home with a better attitude after some fresh air.  Substituting whole grain pasta's is a great way to satisfy that pasta urge and not sabatoge your carb intake for the meal.  Choosing other whole grain foods helps with this too (cereal, bread, crackers).  When you get a sweet craving, how about having SF popsicles or some other kind of low sugar/low carb frozen treat in your freezer?  There are many varieties to choose from that really do satisfy that craving.

I hope that this helps you cope in some way and I am sure that others will have some words of wisdom for you also, so check back often!  Good luck to you!

  

[JDRF-Team-cb]

I too get cravings about a week before my menstrual cycle.  I am a Type 1 diabetic with many years of trial and error.  I have noticed that certain foods trigger my cravings, mostly ones high in carbohydrates, seems that when I eat them I just want to eat more.  I try to avoid them. I usually get myself away from the kitchen.  I go on my computer, call a friend, play a game with the kids anything to get my mind off of food.  Sometimes I just start trying on different outfits in my closet--sounds weird but if I eat too much I won't fit into them and it reminds me, if I don't eat right I won't feel good and my diabetes will be that much harder to deal with the next day.